I don’t know about you, but I can’t function in a messy classroom. And unfortunately, working with children isn’t exactly the best way to keep things clean. Because I am a huge stickler for keeping the classroom tidy, over the years I’ve perfected my classroom clean up routine for my students. If you need help encouraging your students to effectively clean up the classroom, here are some of my best tips. Keep in mind, my method does involve a little bit of micromanaging. Normally I am 100% against micromanagement in the classroom, but with cleaning up, I find it is somewhat necessary; at least until students fully understand your expectations.…
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How To Win Parent Communication For Teachers
Parent Communication for Teachers Ah, parent communication. In my opinion, this is one of the most stressful parts of being a teacher, but also one of the most important! Having strong parent relationships is SO valuable and make a world of difference in your school year. Because I believe so strongly in this, I’m sharing some of my best tips on parent communication for teachers. There are many different aspects to communicating with parents. There’s day-to-day communication about regular class business (homework, etc.). There’s communication about special class events and volunteer opportunities. Then, of course, there’s communication about student performance. If we aren’t properly communicating with our parents about all…
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How to Write the Best Sub Plans
It’s that time of year when you’re probably starting to plan a few days off from work. Or maybe you’re not, if you’re like me. I hated writing sub plans so much, that I didn’t take off work unless I had to! Writing sub plans can be a stressful and daunting task. It’s actually easier to just show up and teach than it is to write a plan for a substitute teacher. However, there are times when we simply don’t have the choice and must get a sub. I’m sharing with you some practical tips to writing great sub plans, so that both you and your substitute can feel at…
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Why Student Reward Coupons Are the Best Thing Ever
Ah, student incentives. I honestly cringe just hearing that phrase. I’m personally not a huge fan of using any kind of external incentive in my classroom management routine. But on top of that, it can be incredibly hard to manage and sometimes even expensive. Unfortunately, it is inevitable that at some point in our teaching careers, we will need to give students a tangible reward for one reason or another. For this reason, I started using student reward coupons 3 years into my career. I couldn’t handle the treasure box – too many distracting trinkets lying around all the time. Plus, my wallet wasn’t such a fan either. Student reward…
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Math Toolboxes: How to Make One For Your Students
Math toolboxes are a game changer in my classroom. Once I made commonly used math materials readily available to my students, they took charge of their own learning. It was amazing! Using a math toolbox is a great way to teach your student independence and responsibility. And, they’re so easy to make! Here’s a peek at how I make and use math toolboxes in my classroom. What Are Math Toolboxes? A math toolbox is a small container filled with frequently used math manipulatives and reference materials for students to access. Math toolboxes can be made from small photo boxes, buckets, pencil boxes, or other containers. Why Use Math Toolboxes? As…
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Teacher Organization Part 6: More Teacher Organization Tips
To wrap up our organization series, I thought it’d be fun to do a compilation of some amazing tips from other teachers! So, I reached out to some teacher bloggers and Instagrammers, and they’re kindly sharing helpful ways they’ve gotten organized in their classroom. Here are some of their favorite teacher organization tips! Library Organization Tips Library organization can be tricky! Here are a few teacher organization tips for keeping those books organized. “Using the app BookBuddy has saved my life when it comes to classroom libraries! The app is user friendly and is so easy to check books in and out of your classroom library! I used to have…
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Teacher Organization Part 5: Time Management for Teachers
Happy Tuesday, friends! I can’t believe this is the last week of our teacher organization series! Today’s post is a little different as it is all about time management for teachers. We’ve mostly been focused on getting our classroom organized for the new school year, but time management is such an important part of staying organized as well! I wanted to make sure to spend some time talking about this before the series ended. As you know, I pride myself on my organizational skills as a teacher. But I also consider myself a really great manager of my time. Time is EVERYTHING as a teacher! We have a countless number…
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Teacher Organization Part 4: Teacher Storage Ideas
Welcome to part 4 of my teacher organization series! Today we will be talking all about teacher storage ideas! We’ve talked a bit about storage options in other posts, but I want to really hit it hard today and specifically talk about systems that worked well for me. Remember, what works for me may not work for you, so take my ideas and make them your own! My goal is to inspire and give ideas, NOT to tell you that this is the only or best way to do it. Teachers have a lot of different materials in their classrooms. It is important to have a strong storage system in…
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Teacher Organization Part 3: How to Organize Paper Clutter
Between papers to grade, data to review, and documents to file, teachers have to deal with A TON of paper! Aside from that, paper is also one of the hardest things to get organized. Which is why today’s post is all about how to organize paper clutter! Unfortunately, paper is kind of a necessary evil in the teacher world. Maybe your district is working on moving over to doing everything electronically, and that’s great! But chances are, you aren’t quite there yet. Which means stacks to grade, hundreds of copies, student portfolios, paperwork, and more are all lying around your classroom. If that sounds like you, and it’s driving you…
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Summer Guest Post: 10 Teacher Organization Tips For the New School Year
Michele has been a teacher for 7 years and is currently teaching 1st grade. She loves sharing tips with fellow teachers on her blog Teaching with Mama Owl. Michele loves spending time with her husband, son, and their dog, Bentley. She also enjoys traveling, finding the latest deals at Target, and finding new ways to be more organized. If you’re like me, being more organized is one of the things you want to focus on this school year (or…every year). Organization skills are critical for any efficient teacher. In my seven years of teaching, I have discovered and refined many different organization methods and systems. Being organized helps me to…
